State Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, of Upper Merion, has plans to resurrect a bill that would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes in Pennsylvania.

Some advocates of repealing or relaxing Pennsylvania's anti-marijuana laws recently told the Associated Press they were encouraged by referendum votes to legalize recreational use of the drug in Colorado and Washington state.

Leach, who sponsored one of two medical-marijuana bills that died in committee during the just-ended legislative session, said the referendums results will help pave the way for similar measures in other states. Leach said he intends to resurrect his bill to allow marijuana use for medical purposes and will also sponsor a bill to decriminalize the drug.

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Montco Lawmaker Trying, but Lehigh Valley Prosecutors Stand With Corbett - Opposed.

The Lehigh Valley's top law enforcement officials say they agree with Gov. Tom Corbett when it comes to decriminalizing marijuana for recreational use.

There's not enough to gain and too much at risk in eliminating criminal penalties for marijuana possession, say Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin and Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli.

"I don't think it's a good idea to legalize it for recreational use and introduce it to a whole group of people who don't use it now," Morganelli said Wednesday.

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HARRISBURG (AP) - Some advocates of repealing or relaxing Pennsylvania's anti-marijuana laws say they are encouraged by referendum votes to legalize recreational use of the drug in Colorado and Washington state, but Gov. Tom Corbett vows to veto any such bill.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, who sponsored one of two medical-marijuana bills that died in committee during the just-ended legislative session, said the referendums results will help pave the way for similar measures in other states.

Leach, D-Montgomery, compared marijuana legalization efforts to the debate over legalizing samesex marriage, saying that once a few states act, it will reveal the falsity of "all the horror stories" perpetuated by opponents. "More and more states will do it, and as more states do it, the arguments against it will become weaker and weaker," he said.

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Recent Legalization Votes Buoy Advocates

HARRISBURG (AP) - Some advocates of repealing or relaxing Pennsylvania's antimarijuana laws say they are encouraged by referendum votes to legalize recreational use of the drug in Colorado and Washington state, but Gov. Tom Corbett vows to veto any such bill.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, who sponsored one of two medical-marijuana bills that died in committee during the just-ended legislative session, said the referendums results will help pave the way for similar measures in other states.

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HARRISBURG (AP) - Some advocates of repealing or relaxing Pennsylvania's anti-marijuana laws say they are encouraged by referendum votes to legalize recreational use of the drug in Colorado and Washington state, but Gov. Tom Corbett vows to veto any such bill.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, who sponsored one of two medical-marijuana bills that died in committee during the just-ended legislative session, said the referendums results will help pave the way for similar measures in other states.

Leach, D-Montgomery, compared marijuana legalization efforts to the debate over legalizing same-sex marriage, saying that once a few states act, it will reveal the falsity of "all the horror stories" perpetuated by opponents.

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HARRISBURG- Some advocates of repealing or relaxing Pennsylvania's anti-marijuana laws say they are encouraged by referendum votes to legalize recreational use of the drug in Colorado and Washington state, but Gov. Tom Corbett vows to veto any such bill.

State Sen. Daylin Leach, who sponsored one of two medical-marijuana bills that died in committee during the just-ended legislative session, said the referendums results will help pave the way for similar measures in other states.

Leach, D-Montgomery, compared marijuana legalization efforts to the debate over legalizing same-sex marriage, saying that once a few states act, it will reveal the falsity of "all the horror stories" perpetuated by opponents.

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ANYONE PAYING attention knows that prohibition of pot alone has done little to prevent kids from using it. Today's children have no difficulty finding the drug. In fact, anti-marijuana legislation may have had the unintended and disastrous effect of giving parents and school officials a false sense of security.

Beyond question, prohibition put the trade entirely into the hands of underground dealers who never check IDs. It is potentially easier to keep children off cigarettes because they are sold by regulated vendors who put their livelihoods at risk if they sell to minors. Underground dealers have no such concerns.

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Regarding Tony Norman's Dec. 11 column ("Will Obama Let the Reefer Madness Go On?"), the voters of Colorado and Washington state have made it clear the federal government can no longer get away with confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees.

If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not an evidence-based public health campaign. It's time to stop the arrests and instead tax legal marijuana.

ROBERT SHARPE Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.

[end]

Though Marijuana Legal in Some States, It's Unlikely to Change Workplace Policies.

Marijuana use is legal in Colorado and Washington, but Pennsylvanians whose workplaces have random drug testing should stick to more conventional activities if visiting those states.

The legalization of marijuana in other states is unlikely to change workplace policies in Pennsylvania.

Just as an employer could dismiss someone for showing up to work with alcohol in his or her system, they could do so for marijuana, whether it was used out-of-state legally or not.

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When Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed calls marijuana a "gateway" drug, he confuses the collateral damage caused by marijuana prohibition with the plant itself.

Consumers who purchase legal wine or beer at a state-controlled store are not offered cocaine during the transaction.

As long as drug cartels control marijuana distribution, marijuana consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs such as methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.

Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. This major drug war failure is no reason to throw good money after bad drug policy.

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In The New York Times last week, Charlie Savage reported that the Obama administration has begun debating the pros and cons of moving against two states that legalized marijuana the same day he was returned to office by the voters last month.

"Senior White House and Justice Department officials are considering plans for legal action against Colorado and Washington that could undermine voter-approved initiatives to legalize the recreational use of marijuana in those states, according to several people familiar with the deliberations," Mr. Savage wrote.

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Now the governor wants to tax marijuana prescribed to relieve cancer patients' pain.

Medical marijuana has been declared a prescription drug by the Legislature, so why is Gov. Christie trying to charge a sales tax when it's purchased? Is it out of spite because he couldn't block the legislation? Whatever the reason, it's wrong. Medical marijuana should be treated like other prescription and over-the-counter drugs, whch means no sales tax would be collected.

The Christie administration jumped on an apparent loophole in the law when the Treasury Department announced last week that medical marijuana would be subject to a 7 percent sales tax - a potential revenue windfall for the state's coffers, but an additional financial burden for cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and other patients prescribed marijuana to relieve pain.

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Bad Way to Spend Our Tax Money

IN HIS NOV. 26 letter, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary John Wetzel tries to use progressive language to mask Gov. Corbett's unjustifiable $685 million prison expansion project. Wetzel's two main points are disingenuous and misleading.

First, Wetzel cites a decline in the prison population since June to bolster Corbett's Justice Reinvestment efforts. This is a sleight of hand - using numbers that merely reflect a decline from the sharp increase that happened just before. Pennsylvania's prison population has gone down since June only because the population spiked significantly in the middle of the year. If Wetzel compared today's population to the amount one year ago, he would find that there are actually slightly more people in Pennsylvania's prisons today than there were in October 2011, up from 51,323 to 51,382.

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Know the warning signs

About 85 percent of Lycoming County Drug Court defendants are addicted to heroin. For every one addict who has found help in the system, there are 10 more who haven't yet been caught, according to James Schriner, a county probation officer. And the problem is getting worse.

In the first 11 months of the year, the West Branch Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission has treated 278 clients who identified heroin as their primary drug of choice. In 2011, they treated 173 heroin addicts in the same time period.

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The week after the election, a few of my students said that they were planning vacations in Colorado or in Washington state. They were kidding. I think.

On Nov. 6, voters in both states approved referenda that permit the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana, subject to the same sorts of regulations that apply to the use of alcohol.

Relaxed marijuana laws are at odds with federal laws, and the Drug Enforcement Administration acted quickly to remind the defiant voters that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance, and that the DEA's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act will continue. Some experts suggest that it will take the Supreme Court to resolve this classic clash between the rights of the states and the authority of the federal government.

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The week after the election, a few of my students said that they were planning vacations in Colorado or in Washington state. They were kidding. I think.

On Nov. 6, voters in both states approved referenda that permit the recreational use of small amounts of marijuana, subject to the same sorts of regulations that apply to the use of alcohol.

Relaxed marijuana laws are at odds with federal laws, and the Drug Enforcement Administration acted quickly to remind the defiant voters that marijuana is a Schedule I controlled substance, and that the DEA's enforcement of the Controlled Substances Act will continue. Some experts suggest that it will take the Supreme Court to resolve this classic clash between the rights of the states and the authority of the federal government.

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Don't expect the Keystone State to be the Key-stoned State anytime soon.

While voters in Colorado and Washington approved citizen-proposed referendums this month legalizing recreational marijuana use, Pennsylvania has a long way to go before such a question makes its way on the ballot, midstate attorneys and legalization advocates agree.

Supporters say legalizing marijuana would be a boon for the economy, potentially generating millions in tax revenue, while opponents argue readily available pot would lead to people using drugs with more devastating effects.

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It bothers me to read that one-third of our states now permit medicinal marijuana and even more that two states are now allowing its recreational use ("Marijuana laws no pipe dream," Wednesday). This is in direct violation of our federal laws, which consider marijuana an illegal drug.

States that choose to condone violating federal antidrug laws perhaps should no longer receive federal funds that pay for antidrug activities. Why should taxpayers from other states spend their money to deal with a problem that these states do not take seriously? If these states don't consider drugs a problem, let them deal with the fallout.

Michael E. Bail, Norristown, michaelbail@icloud.com

[end]

PHILADELPHIA A hatchet used to bust up saloons, the verdict sheet from Al Capone's trial and lawman Eliot Ness' sworn oath of office are among the more sobering artifacts in a new exhibit documenting the driest period in U.S. history.

But the items help tell a lively tale as part of "American Spirits: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition." The installation now on view at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia also includes a re-created speakeasy, where visitors can learn the lingo and fashions of the Roaring '20s and even how to dance the Charleston.

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North Star school board members will begin a voluntary student drug-screening program called Remembering ADAM for ninth through 12th grades.

This program will allow students to sign up for random drug screenings for the rest of the year. The program is meant to help students who might be having a drug problem, but are having trouble asking for help. It will be free to the district for the first year. The drug screening will consist of a urine sample administered by a nurse.

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